


Barton Bird Sanctuary

by respoftw



Series: Tumblr Prompts - Hawksilver edition [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:48:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3913534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had started with a barn owl.</p>
<p>Actually scrap that. It had started when Wanda had shown up on the Barton farm in the dead of night, dragging a suddenly not dead Pietro with her</p>
            </blockquote>





	Barton Bird Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

> Because I promised reddobastard on tumblr a bird sanctuary AU weeks ago and then forgot about it. I suck.

It had started with a barn owl.

Actually scrap that. It had started when Wanda had shown up on the Barton farm in the dead of night, dragging a suddenly not dead Pietro with her.

Clint had a soft spot for Wanda a mile wide so he couldn’t turn her down when she asked that he take Pietro in while she worked out what to tell the Avengers.

It hadn’t been all that bad having the brat around. His sister, Laura, had been grateful for the extra set of hands with the kids while Clint was busy with all the diy projects that he’d been putting off for years.

Then the thing with the birds started.

Cooper had found a barn owl with a broken wing out in one of the fields. Clint had walked into his kitchen one afternoon to find his niece and nephew watching on in awe as Pietro carefully set and wrapped the bird’s wing.

“Should you not be taking him to the vets?” Clint asked, bewildered.

The white haired speedster barely glanced at him, too absorbed in what he was doing as he answered with the single most unexpected thing that Clint had ever heard.

“I trained as a vet back in Sokovia. I know what I’m doing.”

_Huh_. Clint supposed he had never really thought about what the twins had done before they got involved with HYDRA. If he had, veterinary studies is probably the last thing he would have guessed.

It made him wonder what else he had gotten wrong about the kid.

The owl was just the beginning.

Suddenly Clint was routinely coming home to find Pietro bent over whatever stray animal the kids had found that day.  And it wasn't just Cooper and Lila.  It had somehow gotten out that if you found a sick or injured stray that the Barton farm was the place to go.

Although animals of all kinds came and went regularly now, Pietro seemed to have a special affinity with birds. 

The kid, who could be abrasive and arrogant when dealing with people, was soft and gentle as he handled the birds that came to the Barton farm.  It was strange for Clint to watch as Pietro crooned gently to the frightened animals.  Clint may have retired but after decades working as a spy not much got past him.

So, try as he might to hide it, Clint saw the soft smiles that Pietro gifted to each new bird.  He saw the lengths the kid went to to keep a regular feeding schedule for the orphaned baby birds that the McGarty kids from the next farm over had found, going so far as to sleep out in the barn Clint had converted for the birds that were taking over the place.

There were jokes around town of the Barton farm turning into a bird sanctuary.  Pietro, of course, found this hilarious given that Clint’s code name had been Hawkeye.

That's another thing.  The constant teasing and jokes that had been just the wrong side of mean when the two men had first met, had softened into something more familiar and fond.  Clint actually found himself dreading the day when the Avengers eventually came to take the kid off his hands.

He realised that he would miss Pietro.  He’d miss the screams of laughter from the kids as Pietro zoomed them around the fields.  He’d miss the quiet nights nursing a cold beer watching Laura and Pietro make fun of bad TV.  He’d miss a happy, laughing Pietro running up to show him another “hilarious” bird video.

Clint was falling for the kid.  He’d suspected it that day the two of them had spent digging out a pond in the backyard ("somewhere for the ducks to live, Clint, obviously”) when Pietro had stripped off his shirt in the warm sunshine and Clint had felt a definite stirring in his pants.  He’d realised that it might be more than lust the day that he heard Pietro fondly exclaim that the injured falcon he was working on name was “definitely Clint.  Look how grumpy that face is.”  He’d admitted it to himself the night he’d wandered downstairs for a drink of water to find Pietro wiping away tears after losing one of his precious birds to their injuries.

Clint had fallen hard.

The day that Clint had been dreading eventually arrived with the roar of Cap's motorcycle and the purr of Tony's ridiculous sports car.

The two Avengers burst into the Barton kitchen and froze as they saw Pietro carefully weighing two of the current bird population of the unofficial Barton bird sanctuary, showing a fascinated Cooper and Lila how to record the data correctly while Clint watched.

The soft smile on Clint's face faded as he saw the two men.

"Holy shit, he _is_ alive" Tony breathed.  Steve was evidently too preoccupied to mention the use of bad language in front of the kids but Pietro wasn't.

"Hey, language.  Little ears here." he scolded as he teasingly tried to cover Lila's ears, causing the girl to giggle wildly.

Clint told the kids to go find their Mom as he helped Pietro finish up with the birds.

"You guys wanna come walk with us?" he called out to a still shell shocked Steve and Tony.

The four men walked quietly over to the barn, Steve and Tony looking confused as they took the space in.

"What's with all the birds?" Tony finally asked.

Clint shrugged. "Kid likes birds." He explained, nodding his head to indicate Pietro.

Tony just hummed in consideration as Steve finally gathered up his wits to talk about why they had come.

"Wanda told us what happened.  And I'll admit we're all a little concerned about it.  We just want to make sure that everything is OK.  That Pietro's not...."

"A zombie?" Pietro teased, earning a stifled laugh from Tony and a belly laugh from Clint.

"Cap," Clint promised.  "He's fine.  He's better than fine. No brain eating, no weird behaviour.  Just a shit load of birds."

Steve looked unconvinced but after a day and night watching Pietro go about his routine at the farm, he agreed that whatever Wanda had done wasn't the start of the zombie apocalypse. (Which had apparently been a legitimate concern, something that Clint would never stop finding funny.)

As Tony and Steve were leaving the next day they made the offer Clint had been dreading.

"You're welcome to come back with us Pietro.  I know Wanda would love to have you living with us."

Pietro looked at Clint, his eyes pleading and unsure.  Clint squeezed the kids shoulder.  "You  know you've got a home here for as long as you want." he promised.

Pietro's answering smile was dazzling.  "I'm good where I am" he answered Steve as he shook the mans hand.

"So, birds?" Tony asked as he paused before getting in his car.  "Huh.  What's your favourite kind of bird, kid?"

Pietro glanced at Clint before grinning.  "Definitely hawks."

"Hah! Knew it!" Tony smirked as he drove off, leaving Clint and Pietro staring at each other.

"So.....hawks?" Clint asked.

"That ok?"

"Definitely."

**Author's Note:**

> Come say Hi on [Tumblr](http://pietrolovesclint.tumblr.com)


End file.
